threads that run through

i have just updated my website - www.kentwilson.net - in light of this important show at dianne tanzer gallery. i'm particularly conscious of maintaining a professional archive of my work. as part of this process i dug out a few older works that i hadn't seen for a while and was struck by how consistent the theme of my work has been. the refining of my research project for my postgrad brought to light the common thread in my work of humans engaging with 'culturalised' nature, such as pot plants, gardens, street trees. a work from 2008, during my honours year, which also had an airing in barcelona this year, struck me as a clear illustration of that theme and reiterated this growing awareness in my work, that with time a clear conceptual thread becomes more apparent.

 

the animation is set on the campus at university. the trees represented are the largest eucalypts that grow there in amongst the buildings. the work aims to expose the power of those trees, highlighting their presence which is often overshadowed or hidden amongst the 'geology' of the built environment. the character in the work is my wife lucy james, who allowed me to film her making the necessary poses which i then rotoscoped frame by frame using a drawing tablet that connects to my computer.

this has also reinforced my desire to return to some drawing projects. i have been increasingly drawn into sculptural works over the years, having started art school as a painter. in reality i entered art school as a drawer, only converting my drawings to painting to demonstrate i could paint, at the time believing drawing to be something 'less than art', something preliminary. drawing is, however, a rightful and respectable medium in its own right and can be expressed in many forms, not least digital animation (such as this work). anyway, reviewing this work has reinforced my growing desire to pursue more drawing projects. additionally, to pursue some more video work.

i've posted it to youtube for viewing - the quality, it must be noted, is quite deteriorated in that format though. you can adjust it to HD (720p) down at the bottom right to make it as good as possible for this sort of version: